The prevalence of mobile technologies such as smart phones, tablets, and other electronic mobile wireless devices has driven the proliferation of mobile applications (or “apps”) that enable diverse functionality of these devices. As the use of smart phones, tablets, and other electronic mobile devices becomes even more widespread, it becomes increasingly important to provide a convenient and enriching experience to clients and consumers of businesses, institutions, and other content or service providers (“providers”) through a well-designed app. For example, users may opt to transact with one provider over another based on the convenience and functionality of that provider's app. With respect to a financial services provider, the particular functionality of a mobile app can eliminate the need for some users to visit a brick-and-mortar location for routine transactions.
As users continue to increasingly rely on the functionality of mobile applications for their service and content needs, providers are challenged with identifying the usefulness and desirability of particular features to incorporate into their mobile app. Additionally, providers strive to identify how users interact with the mobile app and to what extent additional or modified functionality can lead to increased revenues from existing clients and/or attract new clients. In particular, providers desire a way to efficiently and effectively test the use and desirability of new features in a mobile app by evaluating real-time interactions of a large number of users according to their actual typical use of the mobile app.
Conventional testing methods include traditional surveying actual or potential users of a mobile app regarding the desirability of particular functionality and how that functionality might be used. Traditional surveys, however, may not be very accurate in predicting how users will utilize that feature within the actual working (or “native”) mobile app that is available for all users. Thus, real-time beta testing of a native app with the new features and functionality is more desirable. Conventional beta testing methods, however, are incapable of effectively testing the new features and functionality among a large group of actual users. A provider typically must provide a beta version of its mobile app (a “beta app”) to a mobile app distributor, such as the Apple App Store® or Google Play®, where select users may be instructed to download the beta app. But mobile app distributors often limit the number of versions of a particular app that are available for download. Accordingly, a provider typically must include all new features or functionality it is testing within the beta app. Mobile app distributers also limit the number of users that can download the beta app. Thus, conventional beta testing of new mobile app functionality typically suffers from being unable to release multiple versions of a beta app to test specific new features and functionality or to reach large numbers of users that may have diverse demographics and varying levels of interaction with the mobile app.
Typical beta testing methods also fail because they require select users to download a beta version of the mobile app for each newly planned feature, which many of these select users may neglect or be reluctant to do. Additionally, some users may find that the beta app includes new functionality that is undesirable or results in a negative experience, requiring that user to once again download another version of the mobile app, such as the native app. Thus, it is desirable to enable beta testing of new features for select users within the native app. Additionally, it is desirable to implement a method and system to dynamically control the availability of new discreet features (beta features) of the mobile app to select users, without requiring separate downloading of new versions of the mobile app for each beta feature.